Work Text:
P.1
A man sits on a dock writing in a notebook as ships pass by.
He's young, about 24 or 25. His hair, full and a tad curly on the ends, is a light brown. A beard and moustache make him feel older, but don't do much to aid in that impression.
CAP: Tusculum, Province of Cyrodiil.
P.2
He takes a break and a breath of fresh air, enjoying the taste of sea salt on his tongue and the sharpness of the sea itself.
On the one ship passing by him we see a Dark Elf.
P.3
The Elf holds up a hand in friendly greeting.
He waves back.
Man: (CAP) I've always wanted to travel. To see new lands, to visit Temples and shrines dedicated to different Gods and Goddesses and above all else experience new cultures.
P.4
He continues scribbling down what appear to be notes but we can't see them, resting squarely on his shoulder.
Man: (CAP) My family has been sailors for generations, ever since my great great grandfather and namesake, Marco Polo, served in the Imperial navy and later bought his own trading ship with his pension.
P.5
We finally see what he's scribbling and it is not notes like we perceived earlier, but a map. A map of a place called Qin, a vast land to the east.
Man: (CAP) My grandfather, Andrea, continued the family business and once he passed my father Niccolo and uncle Matteo took it on, traveling across Nirn. I dreamt of one day accompanying them abroad. To follow in the family tradition.
"Marco!"
P.1
He turns around to see a plumb woman, arms crossed, staring down at him from the head of the docks.
Marco: Hello, auntie.
Marco: (CAP) Since my mother died when I was little and my father has been gone since before my birth, my aunt Anna and uncle Valens Antonius took me in. She was my mother's older sister and my only blood relative still in Cyrodiil....
Unfortunately, she could be a pain in the ass.
P.2
Anna raised an eyebrow.
Anna: Save your 'auntie' Marco. Its passed suppertime. Your uncle told you to be home by mid noon.
Marco: And I was going to be, but then....I got distracted.
Anna: You can sketch anytime of day, but he needs you to help at the forge at specific times.
Marco: I know. I'm sorry. Is he mad?
P.3
She brushed a lock of greyish black hair out of her eyes.
Anna: Valens has never been one for anger, you know that. He's disappointed.
Marco: Which is worse.
Anna: Come home and apologize. He'll be fine by morning.
P.4
Marco closes his sketch book, taking one last look at the sea as he does so.
P.1
Marco's aunt and uncle's house is located within Tusculum's thriving city. Situated between two larger ones made of marble stone while it, more modest, is made from granite, brown in colour.
As they walk down the street towards it Marco glances at a vendor selling fish and pastries.
Marco: What are we having for dinner tonight?
Anna: Meat pie.
Marco: Again?
Anna: Again. And we'll be having it tomorrow night too.
P.2
Marco's uncle Valens is deep in study when he stands in the office door. The man's room filled with volumes and art pieces from across the Empire. He is the definition of an armchair scholar.
P.3
Valens beckons him in.
Valens: Did Anna send you to tell me supper's ready?
Marco: No, but I wished to talk.
Valens: Of course. Take a seat.
P.4
Sitting in what is referred to by Valens as the 'guest chair', Marco clears his throat, unsure how to begin.
Marco: I'm sorry I missed work yesterday and today. It wasn't intentional, I got sidetracked.
Valens: By sketching?
Marco: Yes.
P.5
His uncle puts the book down. Folds his hands together.
Valens: Marco, you know your aunt and I support your art. But when I ask you to help at the forge I expect you to be there, not to be distracted.
Marco: I understand.
Valens: Do you? This was the third time this month alone.
Marco: I understand uncle. I'll keep sketching for the night.
P.1
Valens points to a painting of Tiber Septim, the first Emperor of the Third Empire in full Nord battle armour with his axe held over a begging Redguard's head.
Valens: Your great grandmother Claudia painted that for your grandfather on his twentieth birthday. To signify---
Marco: To signify our connection to the Septim dynasty. But we were only related by marriage, and a short one at that and that was two hundred years ago.
Valens: True, but how many families can boast a connection to the Septim Emperors? My point is, you should use your talents to paint great works of art that celebrate the Empire. That can make you a profit in the marketplace.
P.2
Marco shakes his head.
Marco: I draw maps and ships. I've never done a battlefield painting or drawing. Nor any that even had people in it.
Valens: You have the skill for it. Give it a try.
Marco: Uncle....I want to become a sailor, like my father. I want to record the sights I see in sketches and paintings.
P.3
Its clear from the disgusted look on his uncle's face that he doesn't approve.
Valens: Your father's profession isn't one to emulate. You need a stable career.
Marco: I need to follow where my heart leads.
Valens: Marco, you see what your father's path has gotten him. No wife. No family besides Matteo. What kind of life is that?
Marco: One to be proud of.
P.4
Marco stands to go, not willing to listen to Valens disrespect his father or family.
Marco: I know you mean well uncle, but I need to follow what I believe best for myself.
Valens: Even if it leads to ruin?
Marco: I'd rather live my life my way and face hardship, then live well but miserably.
P.5
As he reaches the door Marco looks back. Smiles.
Marco: Please don't take this as being disrespectful towards you or your ideas. You are one of the best men I know.
Valens: I just hope you understand what you're asking for.
P.1
Later that night Marco, his aunt and uncle, and their fifteen year old daughter Sophia eat the meat pies Anna referenced earlier. Marco's sprinkled liberally with salt.
P.2
Anna pulls out a letter and hands it to Marco. Valens looks at it with a cool expression.
P.3
Marco rips it open. Reads it excitedly.
Marco: Its from my father. He's coming home! He should be here by the end of the week.
Anna: Did he say how long he's staying for?
Marco: Two months.
Valens: Its about time you met him.
P.4
Marco beams at his uncle who, despite his earlier look, smiles back warmly.
Sophia, who could care less, continues devouring her pie.
P.5
Rereading the letter Marco can barely contain his happiness and eagerness to meet his father after so long apart.
P.1
A ship pulls into Tusculum's port. Long and slender its built from ash wood and helmed by a Nord Captain, Tyr Cruel Sea.
P.2
Two men hang over the riles, both sporting bushy black beards, balding and wrinkled.
Marco: (CAP) My father and uncle arrived on the second of Sun's Height, loaded with gifts and stories to tell of their travels.
P.3
Anna and Valens are there to meet them. Neither look particularly pleased.
Marco: (CAP) The night before, uncle told me that he would be the best host possible. I believed he would try, though how well he'd play his part wasn't certain.
P.4
Niccolo, distinguished from Matteo by a golden medallion he wears around his neck emblazoned with a golden eagle, hugs Anna.
Niccolo: Its been too long! You look healthy as ever.
Anna: And you've grown a beard and lost your hair.
Niccolo: As age is wont to do with men. How's my boy?
Anna: Marco is well. A strong lad. Takes after his mother.
P.5
Niccolo and then Matteo shake Valens's hand, the blacksmith putting on his best 'host' face.
Valens: The Gods brought you home to us.
Matteo: Indeed.
Valens: Is your friend joining us?
P.6
He gestured at the blonde Nord on the ship's deck yelling at a crewmate.
Niccolo: Tyr will find something to occupy his time while we visit. Please, take me to my son.
P.1
Marco stands at the door of their house waiting anxiously for them to return. Sophia sits on a bench beside him reading The Lusty Argonian Maid.
P.2
He glances at her briefly, then does a double take when he realizes what she's reading.
Marco: You're too young for that.
Sophia: I already learned about sex Marco.
Marco:....Err.
P.3
Her eyes shift from the page to him, mischievous.
Sophia: Don't be so flustered cousin. Its just nature.
Marco: Of a very delicate sort.
Sophia: You're turning red!
P.4
Marco frowns.
Marco: Just make sure you hide it before uncle sees it.
Sophia: I can handle my father.
Marco: Its not you I'm worried about. He'll skin my ass if he knows I know you're reading such things and I didn't let him know.
Sophia: The good thing about skin is that it regenerates.
P.5
He is just about to snap off a sarcastic response when he spots Anna and Valens walking down the street, two men behind them carrying bags of items.
Marco: They're here.
P.1
Marco and his father stand in his room, a small and cluttered space at the back of his aunt and uncle's house. A bag of items, mostly clothing, rests on the bed.
They stare down at it. Awkward. Neither sure what to say.
P.2
Not able to bear the silence anymore Niccolo points at Marco's sketch book on his desk in the corner of the room.
Niccolo: Your aunt tells me you draw maps.
Marco: Maps and ships.
Niccolo: Have you sold any?
Marco: No. Its just a hobby.
P.3
His father scratches his beard glancing at the book.
Niccolo: If you have talent you should try your hand at making a living. There's no point in creating things if you don't intend on selling it.
Marco: Creation can be its own reward.
Niccolo: Only if you're a nobleman.
P.4
The elder Polo exits. Marco continuing to look at the bag.
Marco: (CAP) I dreamed all my life about what it would be like to meet my father. How we would rejoice in seeing each other for the first time, share stories of our lives and form a close bond like fathers and sons are supposed to do.
But, when the day came, all expectations died. My father barely hugged me, said even less to me other than to comment on how much Anna was right, I did favor my mother.
It was an awful day.
P.1
Back at the dock's a day later Marco is deep in sketching, sky above him cloudy and grey, like its about to rain.
P.2
An Argonian dockworker is unloading cargo from a schooner a few feet down from Polo, struggling with a particularly heavy box.
Dockworker: Hey, kid, can you help?
P.3
He looks back at the lizard man.
Marco: I don't know Swift Runner, you called me a lousy troublemaker a few weeks ago.
He says it with a genuine smile. The two are friends.
Swift Runner: Get your ass over here and help me. I'll buy you a drink after eh?
P.4
They haul it down off the gangplank, Swift Runner's tail thrashing in exertion.
P.5
Done, the Argonian slaps his human friend on the shoulder.
Swift Runner: What do you want? A cold drink of mead? Or some wine?
Marco: You don't need to buy me a drink. I helped because I like you.
Swift Runner: Going soft on me eh?
Marco: When have I ever been anything but?
P.1
As the two chat Niccolo and Matteo are seen moving about the dockyard, ordering Tyr Cruel Sea to do some errands.
Swift Runner: Does it feel good to have your father home?
Marco: He's not the man I hoped he be.
Swift Runner: Father's usually aren't. Mine was a skooma smuggler so count yourself lucky.
Marco: And did he love you?
Swift Runner: Of course.
Marco: I can't say that mine cares much.
P.2
Matteo, spotting Marco and his Argonian friend, comes down the docks. He doesn't look happy.
P.3
He nods towards Swift Runner.
Matteo: Who's this?
Marco: A friend, uncle. Swift Runner.
Matteo: He hasn't taken an Imperial name yet I see.
Swift Runner: And I don't intend too sir.
Matteo: 'Sir.' At least you understand the differences between us Swan Runner. May I have a word with my nephew?
Swift Runner: My name is Swift Runner.
P.4
He moves off down the docks, continuing with work.
Matteo stands by Marco smirking.
Matteo: Mouthy lizard.
Marco: What did you want to talk to me about?
Matteo: Your father told me about your skills. You draw maps he tells me.
Marco: Yes.
Matteo: Have you considered becoming a travelling cartographer?
P.5
A cartographer? Him?
Marco: Did my father---
Matteo: Niccolo suggested we take you when we return to the east. He wants you to be the first Imperial to map out the Empire of Qin.
P.6
Marco can't believe his ears. His father wants him to go with them! To sail to Qin!
Marco: Yes! Yes I accept!
P.1
Marco is lugging a chest full of clothes and personal items down the street. His uncle watches from the house, shaking his head.
Marco: (CAP) Anna and Valens argued with father. They said I was too young, to naïve about life and its hardships.
He shot back stating he was my age when he started traveling with his father and that, as my father, he knew what was best for me.
Marco: (CAP) I needed to get away. To fulfill my dreams. I thanked my aunt and uncle for their love and kindness over the years, promising to write often and to stay safe. Then, along with father, Matteo and Tyr, I boarded the ship and we began our journey.
P.2
Blue skies overhead, bright yellow sun. A few seagulls fly by the ship. Marco's hung over the riles watching the water.
Marco: (CAP) For the first few weeks it was clear and warm weather. Father and Matteo spent their time either discussing business ventures or reading. I sketched or talked with Tyr Cruel Sea.
Marco: (CAP) The Nord hailed from the city of Windhelm in Skyrim where his Clan had lived for over six hundred years working as sailors. Tyr himself had served in the Imperial navy before switching to trading, meeting father and Matteo in the Imperial city quite by chance while buying a package of beef.
P.3
A storm hits, contrasting sharply with the sunny days Marco has been experiencing up until then. Wind howls, angry grey waves slap up against the ship's hall.
Marco is running below deck on his father's orders. The rest of the crew hurry to tie down loose containers before they slips off into the seas.
Marco: (CAP) Tyr predicted the storm a day before it hit. Father, dismissing his concern, soon realized why the Nord's Clan carried its name. Cruel Sea was given to his ancestor Rognvalder Einarsson centuries ago for his ability to spot cruel turns in the sea. A skill his descendants carried in their blood.
Marco: (CAP) It wasn't the first time father dismissed his warnings. He had done so many times Tyr informed me later. It always bruised his ego that a Nord could best an Imperial at guessing the weather of the ocean.
P.4
A clear day dawns the next morning. On the horizon we see the port of Hongping, Qin's biggest port city.
P.5
Hundreds of buildings, ranging in size from small huts to the giant castle in the middle of the city, comes into view. Thousands of people move about, crowding the docks and city proper. Most are Han, the natives of Qin, but some are from the west like the Polos. All have come to trade and get fat and rich on the Empire's vast wealth.
P.1
Marco helps his uncle move boxes of cargo off the ship, listening in amazement as people around him speak in Cantonese, the Han tongue as Matteo explains. He smiles, not knowing a word they're saying, but loving the sound and cadence of the language.
P.2
A woman in a black dress, her hair tied in a bun, passes Marco giving him a brief, sweet smile.
He returns it.
Matteo: Keep your eyes on the cargo nephew.
Marco: What?
Matteo: Women are a Septim a dozen here and elsewhere. Business and family are what matter. Come on.
P.3
They carry another box down off the ship. Tyr and Niccolo consult a map on deck.
Niccolo: If we make a stop at Liu Bang's trading post along the way, we should be able to make it to the capital in a week. Two at most.
Tyr: Liu Bang? How many times do I need to tell you not to trust that drunk?
Niccolo: He may love his wine a bit too much, but he gives good coin and his information about court life has never been wrong yet.
Tyr: Not until it gets our heads detached from our bodies eh?
Niiccolo grins.
P.4
A day later, cargo packed on four caravans the Polo brothers hired for the journey, the group heads out of Hongping towards the capital, Song.
P.1
They travel across Qin, covering miles every day, staying in any farmer's house they find along the way.
Marco sketches all the while. Taking notes of the sights of the countryside and learning Cantonese bit by bit from listening in to his father's conversations with their hosts.
P.2
As Niccolo said they would, the group stops at Liu Bang's trading post. A large square shaped building in the middle of nowhere. Liu Bang, so Marco learns from Tyr, was a former village official who struck out on his own ten years earlier to make a fortune.
The fortune never came, but the middle aged man was content with his red wine and pretty young bride.
He was also, according to himself, a direct descendant of the Yellow Emperor. Qin's first ruler thousands of years ago before the country fell into chaos and was divided among different Kingdoms, only being brought back together two decades before Marco's visit by the current Emperor, Zheng Yiren, who preferred his Xiongnu name, Kublai Khan.
P.3
Liu Bang sits in his office chair scratching down numbers when they walk in. The trader resembles an eastern Dragon, his features by no means attractive but striking. His eyes dart up at them, alive with energy.
Liu Bang: Masters Polo. You've finally come back.
P.4
Niccolo steps forward, bows, and plops down a finely made bear rug from Skyrim. Liu Bang's face lights up in delight.
Niccolo: Its been a year old friend, but we're back.
Liu Bang: And you've brought presents I see.
Niccolo: Not presents. Items to sell.
P.5
Standing by Tyr Marco takes in the place. Boxes of items, food and knickknacks on shelf after shelf stretching back into the warehouse.
Workers, mostly women, catalogued and stored merchandize. Their clothing worn with sweat.
Liu Bang notices him.
Liu Bang: Keep your dirty thoughts to yourself, boy. They're here to work.
Marco: Excuse me?
Liu Bang: I know lust in a young man's eyes when I see them.
Marco: Clearly you don't.
Matteo shoots him a disapproving look.
Liu Bang breaks out into a broad grin.
P.1
Niccolo laughs, gestures at the younger Polo.
Niccolo: This is my son Marco.
Liu Bang: Well met, Marco.
Marco: Likewise, Mr. Bang.
Liu Bang: Polite as well as sharp with a tongue. I have a feeling I'll like you, Marco Polo.
P.2
Liu Bang runs a hand across the bear rug, enjoying the feel and warmth of it.
Liu Bang: The people of Skyrim are fine craftsmen. And the bears! What beasts they must be.
Tyr: My people have a special relationship with the animal. Its how we've survived in our land for so long, coming to terms and respect with the animals that live there.
Liu Bang: Always wise.
Niccolo: How is the Imperial Court?
P.3
Bang puts down his pen, leans back.
Liu Bang: The Court is in turmoil, at least somewhat. Two months after you left a city in central Qin, Xiangyang, rebelled against the Emperor's rule. They crowned their own Emperor, a member of the displaced Sugon Dynasty, and proclaimed him Qin's rightful ruler.
Niccolo: On what basis?
Liu Bang: On the basis that the Sugon family were overlords of the other Kingdoms before Yiren united us. Faulty logic if you ask me, but there you have it.
P.4
Marco notices the sword at Liu Bang's hip.
Liu Bang: I'm an officer in the militia.
Marco: What militia?
Liu Bang: I hired a hundred mercenaries to guard my goods but, seeking to advance myself just a wee bit further, I 'gave' them to the Emperor in exchange for an officer's commission.
Niccolo: Sly fox.
P.5
Liu Bang shrugged.
Liu Bang: Sly fox or intelligent businessman. Take your pick. I advanced myself and brought my family more money. I intend to fight if the Emperor calls on my unit, but until then it will guard my stock.
Marco likes Liu Bang, sly fox or not.
P.1
Leaving the trading post the three Polos continue on to the capital.
P.2
They reach it three days later...And it is the largest city Marco has ever seen.
It seems miles wide, with huge towers rising into the sky, crafted from beautiful black jade and other stones. He's told Elves from the Summerset Isles helped the Emperor's ancestor, Wu Yiren, in constructing these marvels.
Whatever the truth, the young man draws them as best he can, struggling (and ultimately failing) to capture their beauty.
P.1
Guards stop them at the city's main gate. Niccolo explains who they are and why they have come.
After an half hour's wait, they are escorted into the Court.
P.2
Marco walks on his father's left, Matteo on his right, as they approach the Emperor's throne.
The throne room is decorated with swords, spears, and other weaponry. Testaments of the monarch's conquests as each weapon belonged to Generals and great warriors he defeated.
P.3
The Emperor, once a proud warrior, is now a chubby and patchy haired man. His black beard thick. Dark brown, almost black eyes watch the foreigners advance.
P.4
The Polo party lower themselves to their knees and prostrate before Kublai.
Niccolo: Great Emperor, it pleases me to see you well.
Kublai: You as well, Master Polo. Your travels have finally brought you back to us.
Niccolo: Indeed. I am grateful for that.
The Emperor motions for them to rise.
P.5
Noticing Marco he inquires about him.
Niccolo: He's my son, Marco.
Kublai: Ah. I remember you speaking of him before. I see he's a man now. How do you find my Empire?
Marco: Its more rich and mysterious than I imagined it to be sire.
Kublai: Are you a partner in your father's business now?
Marco: No sire. I've come along to draw maps and sketches.
P.6
The Emperor takes an interest in that.
Kublai: You're an artist?
Marco: More of a hobbyist, sire. Uh...I brought my sketch book if you'd like to see?
Niccolo and Matteo look at him like he's made the biggest blunder a man could make. He doesn't understand why.
Niccolo: Forgive my son my Lord, he's not accustomed---
Kublai: I'd be honoured to see it. Please bring it here.
P.1
Marco hands the Emperor the book. Kublai opens and studies it intently.
P.2
Kublai dabs at a page revealing a trebuchet, a sketch Marco drew on a whim while taking his uncle's advice to try and draw different subjects.
Kublai: What's this?
Marco: A trebuchet sire. It can fire projectiles at an enemy or city.
Kublai: Can you build it?
Marco: I can design one, but cannot build it.
Kublai: Could you teach my engineers how?
Marco:...I could try.
Niccolo: Lord, my son's just a boy he---
Kublai: Your son might have just won my war for me.
P.3
The Emperor hands Marco back his book, he's confused about what's just happened. His father and uncle speechless.
Niccolo: Lord. Marco has never been in a war before. He's barely a adventurer. Please reconsider, its too much for him.
Kublai: Are you telling me what I can and cannot do, Master Polo?
Niccolo: Of course not Lord. I'd never presume to do that. All I mean is that Marco's mind may be fresh with ideas, but he is no General. Surely another man is more suitable to helping you take Xiangyang?
The Emperor looks at Marco, studies him a moment.
P.4
Suddenly, the monarch snaps his fingers.
Kublai: Escort Niccolo and Matteo out of the Court. Young Marco will stay and be trained as a Qin warrior.
Marco: What?!
P.5
Guards drag the elder Polos out. Marco watches them go, terrified at how fast everything is happening.
The Emperor grins. Pleased with himself.
Marco: (CAP) I became a 'guest' of the Emperor. In truth, I was a prisoner within the palace. Allowed to walk its halls and recline on its balconies, but forbidden from stepping foot outside without a guard or the Emperor accompanying me.
Marco: (CAP) Had I known such a simple sketch would bring me so much fear and uncertainty, I would have ripped it out.
P.1
The young Imperial is brought into a Dojo type room within the palace. A man sits cross legged on the mat in the center, bowed in meditation.
He wears plain black robes, head shaved save for a topknot that dangles down his back.
Marco: (CAP) To make sure I received the best training possible, the Emperor assigned me to his younger brother Jinbao, known in the Court by the name 'One Hundred Eyes.'
P.2
Jinbao rises, turns to face Marco.
Marco: (CAP) The first thing I noticed was that he was blind. Eye sockets gorged out and healed over long ago.
P.3
The guard leaves them alone. One Hundred Eyes moving closer to his new pupil.
One Hundred Eyes: Cat got your tongue?
Marco: You're---
P.4
In one brilliantly executed sweep kick the man knocks Polo's legs from under him. He smacks his face on the hard wooden floor.
One Hundred Eyes: Yes. I'm blind. But not stupid.
He hauls Marco up, dusts him off.
One Hundred Eyes: My brother put you in my care to learn martial arts. The first thing you will learn is never to underestimate an opponent.
WHACK!
He delivers a swift kick to Marco's chest, shooting him backward into a wall.
P.5
Marco groans, stiffly rolling onto his stomach.
One Hundred Eyes: Get up and stop your whimpers. If you want to survive, you'll absorb my teachings.
P.1
A different day. Marco in a white uniform. One Hundred Eyes in green robes.
Marco )CAP) We trained daily for five hours, hardly with any breaks.
P.2
Marco goes to swing, fist inches away from the Prince's face.
Marco: (CAP) Jinbao lost his eyes in his brother's wars, I later found out. He was a General then, but after his eye were gone, he became a monk.
P.3
One Hundred Eyes snatches his arm effortlessly, spinning him around on his feet and gripping his neck.
Marco (CAP) Despite his disability he kept his position as one of his brother's top advisors and tacticians. His name, One Hundred Eyes, proved true. His senses as sharp as if he had little tiny eyes hidden across his body.
P.4
One Hundred Eyes pulls Marco closer to him. Whispers in his ear.
One Hundred Eyes: How did your people conquer a continent, when you can't even hit me?
P.5
Marco breaks free, smashing his hands away and, finally, connecting with a blow to the monk's face.
One Hundred Eyes wipes off spittle. Smiles.
One Hundred Eyes: Good. Now do it again.
Marco (CAP) It took me another two weeks to land another strike. I trained during the day and instructed the Emperor's engineers at night, helping build what would later become my biggest regret.
P.1
The next we see Marco is in the Court sitting beside One Hundred Eyes and other Qin nobles.
Months have passed. His hair longer, facial hair thick. He's more mature, more skilled.
P.2
The door to the throne room opens and the Emperor, alongside his eldest son Jingim, enter. Both dressed for war.
Behind them trail Xiongnu warriors, newly acquired aides to help the Emperor command the war against the Sugon Usurper.
Clad in black leather jerkins, short swords strapped to hips, the Xiongnu looked out of place in the Imperial Court but they are the best mounted warriors in the land.
P.3
Kublai and Jingim take their seats. The Xiongnu standning beside them.
Kublai: General Byamba, tell us about your latest battle.
P.4
A swarthy man rose from the crowd of nobles, heavily muscled, face scarred by battle wounds.
Marco looks at him. Knows who he is.
Byamba, a bastard son of Kublai sired on a serving girl in his youth, was half Xiongnu via his mother and had spent most of his life learning their ways, only coming back to Court a few short years ago.
Byamba: The Sugon rebels were routed at the Nanching river while trying to cross into Macao province. Five hundred were killed and sixty taken prisoner.
Kublai: And tell us what they told you my son.
Byamba: Xiangyang is near mutiny. The Sugon Usurper is dead, died of sickness contracted by a street whore. His brother, 'Emperor' Gaozo, is a feeble minded idiot who can't even feed himself properly without his mother's aid. Now is the time to strike. Now is the time to crush the rebellion and bring Qin back together.
P.5
The nobles mutter among themselves, slowly raising their voices in approval.
One Hundred Eyes remains silent. Marco's nervous.
Kublai looks to Jingim.
Kublai: We will lead our armies together, my son. Together we will bring Xiangyang to its knees.
Marco: (CAP) We left the next day. Marching to war.
P.1
Xiangyang appears in an aerial shot. The ancient stone walls of the city miles wide, imposing and awe inspiring.
The Qin forces surround the rebel state completely. Thousands of men and horses crowd the plains.
P.2
Marco is by One Hundred Eyes in the front ranks of the army, the Imperial wearing black jerkin armour like those of the Xiongnu. Behind them we see the trebuchets Marco spent months helping to build being pulled into firing range.
Marco (CAP) The Emperor put me under his brother's supervision while in the field, wanting to make sure I survived and, more importantly I feel, that I didn't flee.
Marco: (CAP) Jingim and Byamba led the forces in the field, the Emperor holding 'court' so to speak in his tent a mile from the front. His warrior days, as much as he presented himself as one, were over.
P.3
The trebuchets fire rocks at the city walls throughout the day. Stone smashing stone. Killing dozens of defenders.
Marco: (CAP) The battle consisted of siege warfare of the most banal kind. Our archers picked off their men. Theirs picked off ours. The trebuchets took time to do damage to the walls enough that they started to crack. Warfare, I discovered, was both terrifying....and agonizingly tedious.
Marco: (CAP) By day three the walls of Xiangyang collapsed. Qin warriors streaming into the city.
P.4
In the streets of Xiangyang soldiers clash with rebels. Swords locking in a fierce struggle to survive.
Marco: (CAP) The warriors of the Sugon Dynasty fought valiantly, not giving ground until absolutely necessary. It took five hours of chaotic street battle for Qin forces to make it to the palace of Emperor Gaozo.
P.5
Emperor Gaozo, not as 'feeble minded' as Byamba presented him in court, was out with his men, dressed in splendid silver armour, yelling encouragement and cutting down his fair share of Qin men.
Marco: (CAP) In later years Qin historians would depict Gaozo as Byamba had. A mentally inept man who died clinging to his mother's gown. The truth, however, is vastly different.
P.6
Encircled by enemies Gaozo, suffering a large gash to his right side, fights to the last. He takes three down before a mace cracks open his skull.
Marco: (CAP) Xiangyang's Emperor was a brave man who died with his people, like a true ruler should. Liu Bang was the one who dealt the killing blow. He later used this in propaganda when he led his own, successful, rebellion against the Qin two years later.
P.1
We pull out of the fallen city as flames come to life.
Soon, the palace of the Sugon Emperors is engulfed, spreading throughout Xiangyang.
Marco: (CAP) As an example, Kublai Khan put the city to the torch. He ordered the execution of all rebel officers and the castration of every captured foot soldier, justifying it by stating children born of rebellion know nothing else.
Marco: (CAP) Gaozo's mother, Empress Mother Chabi, was taken back to the capital and forced into a marriage with Kublai. From all accounts, she was a good hearted woman who mourned the loss of her sons and their Dynasty for the rest of her life.
P.2
Niccolo and Matteo return to the Court, Marco reuniting with them in a warm embrace.
Marco: (CAP) My father and uncle were allowed back into Song a month after Xiangyang fell. For my service the Emperor granted me the honourary title of Prince of Xiangyang and an annual pension.
P.3
Marco and his family leave Song, riding out on three beautiful black stallions provided by the Emperor.
Marco: (CAP) He also granted me permission to come and go as I pleased, so I took the opportunity to return home. With father and my uncle I made my way back to Hongping.
P.4
Out at sea the Polos sail home.
P.5
Below deck Marco counts the stocks....hearing movement behind some boxes.
Marco: (CAP) Little did I realize I'd get one final shock before my time in Qin was over.
P.6
He moves some of the boxes to reveal a young girl, dirty and near starvation, huddled against the wall.
Marco: (CAP) Gods know how long she had been down there without food or heat. At first she wouldn't answer my questions or even accept any help. But in time, she grew to trust me, though to this day she still pretends she went undetected and survived by herself.
Marco: (CAP) Before she stepped off the ship once we arrived in Tusculum, she finally told me her name.
Luwei Fusheng.